I finally caught up with a few current season shows today, and it probably tells you a lot when I tell you which ones they were: Kimi ni Todoke, Kobato., and Nyan Koi. These were the sort of shows I needed to watch at this point in my life. Let me explain.

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You are a self-doubting, introverted, and scary-looking high school student. Deep down you are a kind and considerate person, but because you are awkward, people think you’re strange and naturally avoid you. You long to be liked by others–anyone, really, though the most popular and attractive member of the opposite sex would be nice. But because you know it’s impossible, you sigh in resignation every time they call you names. It’s all right. You got used to it a long time ago. It’s not going to change anyway, so why get worked up about it?

Was this you in high school, in part or in whole? It was me to a large degree. (Even little kids at one point called me, quote, “creepy.”) It was also Sawako Kuronuma, in Kimi no Todoke (Reaching You)–and then, with the smile of one special boy and everything that followed, Sawako’s (along with almost every shy, lonely introvert’s) dreams started to come true.

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My impression on Mamiko Noto’s voice is breathy and sexy, not scary. Apparently that’s not how many Japanese people think. She’s the person voicing Kuronuma Sawako, a girl with an apparence too much like the ghost Sadako from the Ring, a Japanese horror movie that I do not recommend watching at 12 AM at night on a large television – but it does make a great date movie that way (yeah, what do I know about that). A trivia – Once Mamiko sang a Japanese children song at some event, and people thought her voice was way too chilling like a hateful woman spirit making a curse!

The animation reminds me of Honey and Clover and even the story itself has a little bit of that atmosphere. Everyone is likable and you can’t help feel pretty good just watching the show. It is shojo so the guys do stand out. Obviously, Kazehaya, the guy who falls in love with our resident Sadako (no, that’s not a spoiler, it’s an obvious conclusion), is the nicest and kindest among them all. He’s known to wanting to help anyone in the class who is disenfranchised.

The usual shojo smiles and glittering and flowers are added for decoration but not obnoxiously so. There is shojo humor when people run away from Sawako even though she’s just trying to say hi, or say “please use it”. I say this is a nice show because it portrays the Japanese High School as a place with good girls. Even the girls that gossips behind Sawako’s back don’t say anything truly nasty. Nobody picks on her in her face or bullies her in anyway, perhaps because she’s rumored to see ghosts and make people sick. But she’s just a very nice gal who desperately needs a hair cut.

Thanks to Kazehaya, Sawako can speak up loudly and explain herself better by the end of the episode and the two clear up some air. So what will happen next?

Everything flows smoothly and nothing drags on. It’s no Honey and Clover but it’s appealing. I won’t be writing about this one because I’m no shojo fan despite the fact I have been seduced to the power of shojo side recently watching a little bit of H&C recently. If you want more coverage, ask Mike # 1 to do it.

Additional notes: the title text and the OP eye catcher made me think of Shaft and I went, uh-oh. But it’s animated by Studio I.G.!

The manga that the show is based on received an award, so for any women interested in how the anime turns out, there you go.